Business Report: October tourism

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Here's October tourism by the numbers, numbers that suggest a bottoming out of the market and hope for the future.

Arrivals were down about 1 percent and visitor days down more than 3 percent. Put another way, we got almost as many people as last year, but with slightly shorter stays. Spending was down less than the decline in hotel room rates, suggesting expenditures made on other services. Honeymoon traffic was up 5 percent, up from all regions, but up 20 percent from Canada.

Governor Lingle's Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert notes that the figures show increases in honeymoon traffic from both the North American mainland and Japan.

Hawaii Tourism Authority CEO Mike McCartney says Hawaii's overall hotel occupancy rate, just under 67 percent, is a near-tie with Washington D.C. and those two market trail only two, San Francisco at 72 percent and New York City and 76 percent. Hawaii also has the highest average room rates after New York.